Quantitative palaeogeographical reconstruction of the North China Block during the Carboniferous and Permian transition: Implications for coal accumulation and source rock development

The Carboniferous-Permian strata of the North China Block (NCB) contain significant economic reserves of coal and gas. In this paper, a comprehensive dataset comprising 401 stratigraphic sections encompassing the Carboniferous-Permian transition in the NCB is compiled from the OneStratigraphy and Geobiodiversity databases. We conducted quantitative analyses of this dataset using ArcGIS and GPlates software, and utilized an up to date plate motion model, to perform a dynamic palaeogeographical reconstruction. The spatio-temporal distribution of depositional facies were also analysed, including basement terranes, fluvio-lacustrine settings, swamps, shorelines, tidal flats, and carbonate platforms. Our reconstructions reveal that the NCB was flanked by basement areas of the Yinshan-Yanshan landmass in the north and the Qinling-Dabie landmass in the south. Peat (coal) deposition occurred across a range of terrestrial to coastal environments, including fluvio-lacustrine settings, deltas, shorelines and tidal flats. Carbonaceous and organic-rich clastic rocks also developed in these areas while organic-rich carbonate rocks were primarily deposited in carbonate platform. The conditions conducive to peat (coal) formation were intricately connected to eustatic fluctuations, which resulted in frequent transgressions and regressions. The sea-level fluctuations during the Pennsylvanian might be, in part, a response to both the waxing and waning of continental ice sheets and tectonic process in the northern margin of the NCB. In contrast, sea-level changes during the early Permian were probably controlled by the tectonic process only. This paper provides a state-of-the-art review of palaeogeographical evolution of the NCB during the Carboniferous and Permian transition, in response to eustatic and palaeoclimate change, and sheds light on resource accumulation based on quantitative analyses. •Carboniferous-Permian palaeogeography of the NCB were quantitatively reconstructed based on 401 sections.•The western, central, and southeastern parts of the NCB exhibit most significant potential for exploring coal and source rocks.•The sea-level fluctuations of the NCB were in response to the global palaeoclimate changes and the regional tectonic process.